As I write this, I realize that it is mid-June. Summer has just arrived, and especially in Phoenix, AZ, we’re “enjoying” some pretty hot days lately, but it’s never too early to start planning your Email Marketing strategy for the upcoming Holiday Season.
More so than at any other time of the year, grabbing your visitor’s attention during the Holiday Season requires wit, whimsy and careful attention to timing. And that’s just what some of the best email campaigns of 2016 were able to do.
ORACLE and Bronto completed a study reviewing thousands of emails sent between November 1 and the week before Christmas to find the best of the best – and a few noteworthy reminders of what not to do.
In the “nice” column were creative GIFs, strong visuals and streamlined messages that made the offer easy to understand. In the “naughty” column, confusing messages that left the shopper wondering what was being discounted, whether they could buy the items yet and when the sale or offer ended.
“According to Adobe Digital Insights, over $1 billion in online revenue was generated on 27 of the first 28 days in November, for a grand total of $39.97 billion,’’says Greg Zakowicz, senior commerce marketing analyst for Bronto. “And of those sales, 18% can be attributed to email.” Zakowicz has coined a term for this phenomenon – Gray November.
Almost 70% of marketers say their email is dynamic based on user behavior.
A Brief History of (Email) Time
Originally, email marketing consisted of drafting one piece of content and sending it to a large, varied batch of recipients. However, this has changed over time. Marketers evolved by creating behaviorally triggered campaigns that grouped together audiences of similar users and, today, this trend has continued. Campaigns are now being created from dynamic content personalized to an individual user. In fact, the majority of marketers surveyed this year, stated that their email campaigns are dynamically focused on user behavior. This means that their email sends will populate with content based on the actions a person has taken online.
Email (Re)Gains Popularity
Email is currently experiencing a renaissance of sorts as marketers take programmatic technologies that were originally developed for paid media and apply them to their customers’ inboxes. In fact, almost 70% of marketers surveyed this year, claimed that their email campaigns are dynamic based on user behavior—shifting away from traditional batch sends. One of the most effective ways for marketers to capitalize on this trend is through email-retargeting products, which sends prospective customers content directly related to the pages they’ve visited on your site.
Most marketers choose to run email campaigns with multiple marketing objectives, which vary from business to business. Loyalty sends are still the most popular, with cross-sell offers and lead generation pitches coming in close behind.
PERCENTAGE OF MARKETERS WHO RUN PROGRAMS AIMED AT EACH OBJECTIVE
One thing marketers struggled with in 2016 was figuring out how to integrate their email campaigns with their other marketing efforts—such as messaging, reporting, and aligned KPIs. Almost 30% of all those surveyed said their emails are barely integrated or have no integration whatsoever.
IS YOUR EMAIL MARKETING DYNAMIC BASED ON USER BEHAVIOR?
Did your emails connect with customers this past holiday season? Or did they fall flat? Now is the time to analyze what worked and what didn’t. It’s also the time to prep campaigns for the customers who found you for the first time. Already thinking about the 2017 holidays? Contact our MGR Team and work with a group of professionals that already design and program responsive emails for most major Email Marketing Services including Acxiom, Wunderman, Bronto and Navis to name a few.
Thank you for reading. Until next time, this is Manuel Gil del Real (MGR)
Sources: AdRoll, Bronto, Oracle.
